Xcom: Enemy Unknown Now Available on Android for $9.99

Many games have tried, but none have succeeded in replicating the compelling tactical gameplay of Xcom: Enemy Unknown. After taking consoles and the desktop by storm, this game came to iOS a while back. Now it's finally on Android, and there are still plenty of aliens to take down.

Many games have tried, but none have succeeded in replicating the compelling tactical gameplay of Xcom: Enemy Unknown. After taking consoles and the desktop by storm, this game came to iOS a while back. Now it's finally on Android, and there are still plenty of aliens to take down.

Xcom is a top-down isometric shooter that relies on a turn-based approach to combat. You take control of a four-man squad of elite soldiers seeking to stop an alien invasion of Earth and understand why it happened in the first place. The game has been adapted for touch screens with a series of swipe commands to control your view and plan the assault.

Each soldier on your team has different skills and levels up as you play. Your units can move twice or move and fire each time your turn comes. In between, you had better home you've gotten them into cover to avoid the enemy's return fire. Using multitouch gestures to look around the map and rotate your perspective is necessary to get your troops in the right spot to flank the enemy. The quality of the gameplay is excellent.

Xcom is based on the Unreal engine, so it looks awesome most of the time. The gameplay is fluid and the environments have plenty of detail. However, the cutscenes rendered in the standard game engine aren't great. The powerful engine and huge amount of content also means this is a big download—a whopping 3.6GB. It costs $9.99, but there are no in-app purchases. This is the same game from consoles, revamped for touchscreens.

This game does consume a lot of battery, and you'll need a powerful device to enjoy all it has to offer. Still, anyone who likes a good strategy game should consider picking this up. It's worth the $10 price of admission.

About the Author

Ryan Whitwam is a freelance tech/science writer and fan of all things electronic. This long-time skeptic and former research scientist is a lover of the em dash and a defender of the Oxford comma. He also writes for Geek.com and ExtremeTech.
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